Journalist Siddique Kappan walks out of UP jail after 28 months

Siddique Kappan and 3 others were arrested in October 2020 while on their way to Hathras where he was going to report on the alleged gang-rape and death of a 20 yr old Dalit woman, this caused protests across the country and the police accused him that he was going to that place to create unrest. Siddique was also accused of sedition and the anti-terror law UAPA was also charged on him.

In February 2022 a money laundering case was filed against him by the Enforcement Directorate that accused him of receiving money from the banned People’s Front of India. In September previous year, the Supreme Court gave him bail in the money laundering case 3 months later but his release was held up due to multiple bureaucratic lapses. 

The opposition and civil society group have stated that Siddique Kappan's arrest was motivated by the UP government in order to avoid negative coverage of the hathras case.

The unrest was caused when the dalit woman passed away in a Delhi hospital a fortnight after she was allegedly gang-raped. In the middle of the night in her village she was cremated by the district administration and this caused immense condemnation of the Yogi Adityanath government.

After his release he stated “This is half-baked justice. Journalism is not a crime. I will continue my fight against draconian laws. They kept me in jail even after I got bail…28 months after a long fight. I don’t know who’s benefiting from my being in jail. These two years were very tough, but I was never afraid”. 

On Kappan’s release, Chidambaram said, “I am glad that eventually Article 21 of the constitution has triumphed and Siddique Kappan, the journalist from Kerala, is free.”